Smart, automated and connected factories are the future of manufacturing.

In the past, factories have focused on making large volumes of the same goods for a long time. The ‘new normal’ in many industries, however, is mass customization – producing smaller numbers of a wider variety of goods over shorter product cycles. Our customers want to improve productivity and reliability, at the right price while maintaining quality and reducing waste. 

We are play a leading role in designing and building the factory of the future. We are helping customers implement, interpret, and take advantage of those solutions. We are uniquely placed to make the most of these opportunities through our global footprint in the world’s largest and fastest growing robotics markets, and through our leading collaborative automation offering and advanced digital manufacturing solutions.

From pharmaceutical and medical device production to medical and research laboratories, the latest robotics solutions can support the human workforce and transform the quality, capacity and cost of operations.

Pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers are under pressure and need creative solutions that can improve the efficiency and quality of their operations, control costs and speed-up research and development times. All of this against the background of a worldwide skills shortage. Automation can help overcome these challenges and improve staff safety, with robots able to complete repetitive tasks up to 50 per cent faster than current manual processes. They can also enhance productivity and enable highly skilled manufacturing, medical and laboratory staff to undertake more valuable activities.

Automated systems provide an ideal way to help minimize opportunities for human error, counterfeiting or tampering. For instance, robots with integrated vision can now scan packaging for barcodes that contain all the tracking and transaction data for the products. This data enables plant management systems to prevent counterfeit ingredients being used within a production process or contaminated products from being distributed to retailers or consumers.

With the inexorable march towards Electric Vehicle production, car manufacturers will need to develop the ability to run several models on the same line using a ‘batch of one’ architecture.

Today the automotive industry – and its supply chain – is facing unprecedented uncertainty. Now, more than ever, flexibility in production is a vital ingredient for success. How do manufacturers adjust to changing demands? How do they increase the productivity of their existing lines? How do they build multiple platforms on the same line?

At ABB we are supporting our clients with robotics, automation solutions and software that address these challenges with intelligent, ready-to-use application cells, as well as complete manufacturing lines. All of which enables vehicle manufacturers to run several models on the same line using a ‘batch-of-one’ architecture.